School Days

Have you started thinking about heading back to school? Are you ready for the upcoming school year? Let the Museum of the Albemarle in Elizabeth City get you ready for the upcoming year with School Days on Tuesday, August 14, 2006 from 10:00 am – 3:00 pm. Get ready to go back to school by taking a trip to schoolrooms of the 18th and 19th century. Try your hand at writing with a quill pen and learn your lessons on a hornbook. “Make your manners” to the schoolmarm or schoolmaster. Learn how to “toe the line”. Watch out, though! You might be crowned with the “dunce cap” if you’re not careful. For additional information for this free family event, please contact Charlotte Patterson at 252-335-1453 or charlotte.patterson@ncmail.net. The Museum of the Albemarle is located at 501 South Water Street, Elizabeth City, NC.

Serving Bertie, Camden, Chowan, Currituck, Dare, Gates, Hertford, Hyde, Northampton, Pasquotank, Perquimans, Tyrrell, and Washington counties. The Museum of the Albemarle is a regional section of the State History Museums Division, Department of Cultural Resources, State of North Carolina.

Page After Page - Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

Come and join in the fun on Thursday night August 9th, from 6:00 pm - 7:30 pm Page After Page Bookstore will be having a discussion of book 7 - Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows.

Check out their myspace account for pictures and the display in the store which will be going up shortly.

Page After Page would like to thank you for your support of their Harry Potter Bash, as it was a GREAT success! The turnout was beyond their imagination, the costumes were fantastic, the enthusiasm was fantastic!!! Thank you for sharing this event, from your little bookstore on the waterfront in Elizabeth City, NC. Photo Credit: Page After Page Bookstore by Jessica Faulkingham.

New Look for Museum

The Museum of The Albemarle will offer one last look at the “Our Story” exhibit in the Madrin Gallery as the doors of the gallery will close this weekend for a total renovation. According to Administrator Ed Merrell, “Bids were finalized and work is to begin next week to complete ‘Our Story’-the story of the Albemarle region”. Don Pendergraft, Exhibit Design Chief said, “We’ve been working closely over the last two years with designers, construction firms, and the Division of State History Museums through a long bidding process to finalize what we want our main gallery to look like. Now we’re very excited to actually start the building phase.” Pendergraft adds that there are over 700 artifacts that will be displayed in the newly renovated gallery, bringing many of the items out of protective storage to be put on display. “Many display cases are being constructed along with descriptive panels to help tell the overall story,” he said. The Jackson House and the Proctor Smokehouse will remain as anchors to the gallery, but there will be much more for the public to experience.
According to Merrell, the $1.7 million raised by a capital campaign over a 3-year period will fund the construction of “Our Story.” “The State funded the physical building with the agreement that we would have to raise private monies to pay for the display and execution of the gallery’s artifacts,” Merrell said. The Madrin Gallery is expected to remain closed throughout the fall, and into the winter.
Work is now in progress to complete the Discovery Room that will feature many “hands-on” history displays and interactivities for children. In addition, the Museum will continue with its educational programs scheduled through the year, such as a Mother-Daughter Tea Party and Boo!! during the month of October. Beginning in September, the Museum will hold monthly Pre-schooler Time programs and Historical Roundtable lectures, as well as several holiday programs and workshops during the month of December. The 19th annual “A Day on the River: Featuring the Classic Moth Boat” scheduled for September 15th, will provide educational programs and events for people of all ages, beginning with the small boat races at 11:00 am that can be seen along the Elizabeth City waterfront. Other event and program offerings of the day will be held on the Museum Green and the front porch of the Museum, beginning at 10:00 am.
During the renovation of the Madrin Gallery, visitors will not be disappointed and are invited to visit featured exhibits within the lobby and classrooms. Opening in September: “Ansel Adams in the East: Cruising the Inland Waterway”, in November “The Search for Queen Anne’s Revenge” followed by “Quilts from the Museum of The Albemarle’s Collection,” and “Christmas Decorations and Toys from the Past” in December.
For more information, please call the Museum (252) 335-1453. The Museum of the Albemarle is located at 501 South Water Street, Elizabeth City. Free Admission.

Thomas Spagnol
Communication Specialist
Museum of the Albemarle
501 S. Water Street
Elizabeth City, NC 27909
252-335-1453

Lost Colony Activity at the MOA

Today (August 8th) from 1:00 pm to 4:00 pm the Museum of the Albemarle (MOA) will be having a Lost Colony Activity of Corn husk doll making, to go along with it's current Lost Colony Drama Exhibit. For more information on the current exhibit call 252-335-1453 and check out the clip:

clipped from http://www.dailyadvance.com/featr/content/features/stories/2007/06/20/0620MOAexhibits.html Museum hosting three current exhibits; more to come for summer A hand-embroidered Indian dress or playbills dating back to the 1940s tell a story that is the 70th anniversary of The Lost Colony Outdoor Drama. That story is being told locally at Museum of the Albemarle through a series of photographs and artifacts from the MOA collection. John Buford, spokesman for The Lost Colony Drama in Manteo, says this year's anniversary is being celebrated by a number of exhibits including the one at MOA. Aside from MOA's exhibit there is one at Roanoke Island's Festival Park that includes art by the famous New Yorker Magazine cartoonist Al Herschfield. At MOA you can view a history of the "longest running outdoor drama," that includes playbills, information about the 1967 Hurricane Donna that destroyed the waterside theater, a devastating fire and even photos of the play's most famous alumn, Andy Griffin.

USCG Day

Happy Coast Guard Day!!!

August 4th is celebrated as Coast Guard Day to honor the establishment on that day in 1790 of the Revenue Cutter Service, forebear of today's Coast Guard, by the Treasury Department. On that date, Congress, guided by Secretary of the Treasury Alexander Hamilton, authorized the building of a fleet of ten cutters, whose responsibility would be enforcement of the first tariff laws enacted by Congress under the Constitution. For more on the history of Coast Guard Day, click here.

Yesterday's Coast Guard Day celebration held at the Air Station here in Elizabeth City was a great success! To find out more about the celebration read the article written by the Daily Advance - click here.

"Canned" Summer Music Festival

"Canned" Summer Music Festival to benefit the Food Bank of Albemarle! The event is happening on Sunday, August 19th, at 5:00 pm at the Christ Episcopal Church, 200 South McMorrine Street, Elizabeth City. Featuring many artists. Admission is a can of food or $1. For more information, contact the Christ Episcopal Church at (252) 338-1686.

Coast Guard Day Celebration

Today at the United States Coast Guard Airstation they are celebrating Coast Guard Day (which is actually on August 4th). Live entertainment, catered food, a live radio broadcast and more children's activities highlight this year's event. The celebration is scheduled from noon to 5:00 pm in the Forest Pavilion area of the Coast Guard base in Elizabeth City. For the first time, the event will feature live music. Nashville recording artist Natalie Stovall will perform from 2:30 pm to 4:00 pm. For more information on the event click here.

PAC Gallery - August 2nd New Exhibit & Opening Reception

Yesterday, August 2nd, the Pasquotank Arts Council (PAC) Gallery opened its newest exhibit and held a opening reception from 5:30 pm to 7:30 pm. The exhibit shows Original Watercolors by Gene Jones and Jeremy B. Jones (her grandson), and Painted Woodcrafts by Bob and Carolyn Hess. All of the artwork and woodcrafts are beautiful!! I highly recommend everyone in the local area or those just passing thru to stop in and check out this wonderful exhibit and all of the additional artwork that is shown at the PAC Gallery. Here are some pictures of the new exhibit & yesterday’s reception:







Original Watercolors & Painted Woodcrafts exhibits will be shown until September 1st at the Pasquotank Arts Council Gallery. For more information about the Gallery please call (252) 338-6455 or go to their website: http://www.pasquotankarts.org/. Photo Credit: PAC Opening Reception & Exhibit Photos by Jessica Faulkingham.